Boron
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Summary of Boron
Primary information, health benefits, side effects, usage, and other important details
What is boron?
Boron is a trace mineral with biological effects, though its essentiality is debated.
What are boron's benefitS?
It seems to be able to reduce levels of inflammatory markers, and may reduce rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and menstural cramps, though much more research is needed before we can be confident in these benefits. It also might have a small positive effect on LDL-cholesterol, but this is far from certain.
What are boron's side-effects and drawbacks?
It seems to be generally safe, though human research on its adverse effects is lacking, so smaller doses may be warranted.
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The lowest active dose of Boron supplementation appears to be 3mg, which is effective in supporting hormonal parameters in postmenopausal women. Studies on osteoarthritis have used 6mg of Boron while studies in youth investigating hormonal changes have used 10mg.
The optimal dose is currently not known, but the above doses appear to be active for their aforementioned goals.
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Human Effect Matrix
The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what effects boron has on your body, and how strong these effects are.
| Grade | Level of Evidence [show legend] |
|---|---|
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Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials |
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Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled |
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Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies |
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Uncontrolled or observational studies only |
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Level of Evidence
?
The amount of high quality evidence. The more
evidence, the more we can trust the results.
|
Outcome |
Magnitude of effect
?
The direction and size of the supplement's impact on
each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.
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Consistency of research results
?
Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or
VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.
|
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Notable
|
Very High See all 5 studies |
Most studies found notable reductions, with calcium fructoborate being the most supported form.
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|
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Notable
|
- See study |
One study in young women found a meaningful improvement in pain and duration of menstrual cramps.
|
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Notable
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Very High See 2 studies |
There was a notable reduction with low, medium, or high doses in people with osteoarthritis. and rheumatoid arthritis.
|
|
|
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Notable
|
- See study |
There was a notable reduction in one study in healthy participants, with no notable difference between 1.5 mg and 3 mg of calcium fructoborate.
|
|
|
|
Notable
|
Very High See 2 studies |
Notable reductions have been found in people with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy participants.
|
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|
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Notable
|
- See study |
There was a notable reduction in one study, when taken on its own or combined with resveratrol compared with control and resveratrol alone.
|
|
|
|
Notable
|
- See study |
One study in young women found a modest improvement in pain and duration of menstrual cramps. No other symptoms of PMS have been evaluated.
|
|
|
|
Notable
|
- See study |
There was a notable reduction in knee pain in one study on people with knee discomfort.
|
|
|
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Notable
|
- See study |
There was a notable reduction in overall symptoms in a study on people with knee discomfort but who hasn't necessarily been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee.
|
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|
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Notable
|
- See study |
There was a notable reduction from sodium tetraborate and calcium fructoborate in one small study. Calcium fructoborate looked somewhat more potent.
|
|
|
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Notable
|
- See study |
There was a notable reduction in one study on people with rheumatoid arthritis. Calcium fructoborate was more effective than sodium tetraborate.
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|
 
Minor
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Low See all 3 studies |
Appears to influence estrogen, seems unreliable in its mechanisms and is likely context dependent. Both increases and decreases have been noted
|
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|
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Minor
|
- See study |
There was somewhat of a reduction in people with osteoarthritis in one study.
|
|
|
|
Minor
|
Very High See 2 studies |
Appears to be somewhat effective, but requires some more robust trials
|
|
|
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Minor
|
- See study |
There was a small decrease in healthy participants in one study.
|
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Minor
|
- See study |
Some influence on typically inflammatory cytokines, practical relevance of these changes unknown
|
|
|
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Minor
|
- See study |
Calcium fructoborate led to a notable reduction in one study in participants with rheumatoid arthritis, while calcium tetraborate only led to a small reduction.
|
|
|
|
Minor
|
- See study |
Appears effective, but no comparison to a reference drug nor control group thus far
|
|
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Minor
|
High See all 3 studies |
Somewhat of a reduction in participants with high LDL has been noted in 3 studies.
|
|
|
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Minor
|
- See study |
One crossover study found a small increase in alkaline phosphatase when boron was taken second, but not when taken first. More research is needed to verify this.
|
|
|
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Minor
|
- See study |
A small reduction was noted in one study. More studies are needed to verify this.
|
|
|
|
Minor
|
- See study |
There was a reduction in one study on healthy participants. 3 mg of boron from calcium fructoborate was modestly more effective than 1.5 mg.
|
|
|
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Minor
|
- See study |
There was somewhat of an increase in one study from 3 mg of chelates of citrate, aspartate, and glycinate.
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Minor
|
- See study |
There was both an increase and a decrease in a crossover trial when boron was taken first or second.
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Minor
|
- See study |
There was both a small increase and a decrease in a crossover study depending on whether boron was taken first or second.
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Minor
|
High See all 3 studies |
There appears to be somewhat of an interaction with boron and testosterone in both genders, but it is seemingly unreliable
|
|
|
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Minor
|
- See study |
While not statistically significant, boron saw a small increase when taken first in a crossover trial, but not when taken second.
|
|
|
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Minor
|
Very High See all 3 studies |
Studies have generally found a small reduction in people with elevated levels.
|
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|
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Minor
|
- See study |
There was somewhat of an increase in one study of peri-menopausal women. More research is needed to verify this.
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
There was no effect in participants with healthy blood sugar levels in one study.
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
No apparent effect in one study of normal weight males.
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
No significant effect on cortisol has been noted with supplemental boron
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
No significant influences on serum DHT noted
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
There was an increase in one crossover study when it was taken second, but not when it was taken first.
|
|
|
|
- | High See all 3 studies |
Studies don't suggest a meaningful effect overall.
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
No apparent effect in one study.
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
No apparent effect in one study from 3 mg of chelates of citrate, aspartate, and glycinate.
|
|
|
|
- | - See study |
No apparent effect on 1-rep max squats and benchpress in men involved in a training program.
|
|
|
|
- | High See all 3 studies |
The studies don't consistently suggest a meaningful effect
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